Mattawoman 8/5

Mark, Raptor, Strummerfan, hook again, Captain C-hawk, nitefly, myself, and I think I got most of us, launched from Mattingly ave this morning. If I missed any just post addition. Anyway weather was great and that is about it. I caught nothing, when I had left by around noon Mark had a couple small fish, and not sure about anyone else. No body seemed to be doing anything in the fishing or catching arena. But still a nice day to get out. Will have to try for the elusive snakehead another day.

[Snakehead Hunter]

So much for the hype about the invasive species that will destroy our native species. I also got SH skunk for the last couple weeks

[Capt C-Hawk]

Caught two bass before 6 AM, a 17" and an 18" on a frog. Caught 2 more between noon and 1, both 13" and both on a brush hog. After heaving the frog all morning it was like I forgot how to fish the texas rigged lizard. Had several hits but only hooked the 2 runts.

[Memory Maker]

Went Saturday w/Blue Lou on the Tidalfish board on a Bass/Snakehead charter. Lou caught 10 bass and 2 snakeheads ...... he caught everything that bit ............ I had over 15 hits and didn't land a thing ........ it was getting comical. THe 1st 3 hits were my fault because I struck too soon ........... after that we could not figure it out ........... even let 2 swim away with it struck and still didn't hook ......... did have 2 hooked for about 5 seconds before they spit it back. First time that has ever happened.

At the end of the day I had a monster snakehead take it on 4 consecutive casts ........... that fish was so pissed on the last cast that he charged it from or 10 feet away, cutting a big wake ......... went past the frog ... turned.. came back .... swirled it and then struck .......... I let him go for over 5 ft before I set the hook and still missed it ........

Fun day though

[Raptor]

I missed the big skunkeroo by just 15 minutes. I caught a decent bass on the trip back to the launch. Mark got a nice one. I'll let him write about it and post pictures.

T.

[On the fly]

I missed the big skunkeroo by just 15 minutes. I caught a decent bass on the trip back to the launch. Mark got a nice one. I'll let him write about it and post pictures.

T.

What no ray?

[Strummerfan]

What no ray?

LMAO!


Mattawoman is a beautiful place, so glad I finally made the trek.

[Mark]

If fishing was always as hard as Mattawoman was today I would find a new hobby!

It’s amazing that the bite was so good on Saturday for Memory Maker. He was very fortunate. Clearly the bass and snakeheads decided to take Monday off.

I popped my fly rod for 3 hours this morning laying down hundreds of casts in all the fishy spots…and Mattawoman is full of enticing casting targets. Other than a bluegill that tossed my fly, and a few lame swirls I got no action.

I tried a spinner bait. Nothing. I tried a Texas rigged worm into the pads. A tug but no fish. I popped the edges of the vegetation again. Nothing.

Around that time I muttered something to Strummerfan about the good and reliable Severn River.

Then at noon I tried a more subtle surface approach. I removed my Gaines Bass King popper and put on a size 4 Gaines Sneaky Pete slider. That was the trick for the only hungry bass I boated all day. It was 17 inches and heavy.

Thank goodness Raptor was nearby to photograph it. My camera decided to freeze as I had the fish laid out on my Hawg Trough. The bass was indeed 17 inches.

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I followed that shortly thereafter with an 8 inch crappie also on the Sneaky Pete.

At that point my right arm felt like I had pitched into extra innings and it was time to end the game.

I’ll surely visit Mattawoman again but only because I know it will have to produce more fish next time.

Thanks to all the Snaggedline folks who joined us. And a special thanks to On the Fly who organized the trip and led Raptor and me through the DC rush hour traffic this morning to get there.

[On the fly]

Glad to see you and raptor did not get skunked. Severn trip next time or kent narrows if no wind.

[Mark]

Severn...Kent Narrows...Home Sweet Home!

[On the fly]

Short drive too!

[Raptor]

What no ray?

No Ray! So I don't have that as an excuse as to why I only caught 1 fish all day.

T.

[Memory Maker]

Mark .... The key is to fish deep.in the pads and cast in deeper ....... Loooong casts ....... Also the last couple of hours before dark have been the best the last 2times I was there

[Mark]

Memory Maker,

Thank you. Those pads are tough. On the Fly saw a lot of fish yesterday when he ventured into them.

Several of us remarked that the fish appeared to be getting active as we were leaving.

I was also surprised that the tidal variation was so large. Areas I floated over in the morning were completely exposed in the afternoon.

It is a beautiful resource.

Mark

[Nitefly]

Got my Snake!

It was great to meet everyone and thanks for the tips over lunch! I had a slow day as well. I found venturing back into pads that I could get to easily a month ago much more difficult this trip. I did get one solid strike back in some muck but that was the only hint of a bass I got. No sign of Snakehead this morning and that is what I was targeting. After 10am, I decided to try experimenting. I caught my first Crappie on a spinner and I caught my first Yellow Perch in the state of Maryland on a chatter bait that was almost as big as the perch. But what made the trip particularly interesting was I caught my first water snake on a lure! Apparently, they like to ambush plastic frogs from the muck too! I decided I would go to the Severn in the evening to try for White Perch as this trip was slow fishing wise. It was a beautiful morning though and a great chance to meet some fellow MKFers. Of note, I saw On The Fly get a snake on his line too. So can I get on the leader board for this thing???

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